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Bob Heman

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The fish she found inside his body have their own motors. She is able to make them do tricks.

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They lie about the dead to give themselves an excuse. They lie about the living to give themselves status. They lie about the animals to give themselves profit. They lie about the god to give themselves purpose. They lie about the women to give themselves a history.

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The frog conceptual at best. He’s green, and wet, and filled with noise. His home the night that never leaves. His name only the way that he is counted.

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Thinks the same gesture means something different. Thinks that one of something is never the same. There were always two of them but they never spoke with each other. When a third was added it gave them perspective. She smiled each time she left the room.

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Speaking is not the same as spanking. A door is not the same as a dog. When he whistles he is not whispering. When he stops he must start again.

I was sitting in the middle of the seat on the train and turned around and looked out of the window to see you on the platform as the train started up and you turned around to look for me before you descended the stairs but you were looking at the next car after mine and probably thought I wasn’t looking but I was.

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Loses the faith that is required to believe in clouds. Loses the understanding that is required to enter mirrors. Loses the dexterity that is required to make the men move. Loses the desire that is required to repeat these things.

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She will punish him each time but only if he asks.

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When they asked him to remember the trees, he remembered trees that were drawn in a book.

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One out of seven had gone to hear German music during the semester.

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The three previous examples illustrate the way in which colors can assume the identities of numbers.

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Represents the giraffe with five nails hammered into a 2x4. Represents the glass of water with a zebra and a piece of string. Represents the broken tree with a jar full of dirt.

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Yes. The word “yes” is a lie. The word “no” is a lie. The color of the bears is a lie. The dodecahedron is a lie. The moon is a lie. But we never say any of this when they are described.

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Their bodies were the most splendid lies of all. There were only two trees, but they were counted more than once.

Bob Heman’s poems have been published on every continent except Antarctica. He lives on the west end of a long narrow island that was once called Paumanok.